STAN COLLYMORE Memo to bosses: Rashford is a wide-boy!
Follow us on Twitter: @peoplesport A LITTLE piece of the centreforward inside me dies every time I see a natural No.9 shunted out wide and it happened again here at Hampden.
Gareth Southgate chose to set up with Marcus Rashford on the right of the three behind Harry Kane and what worries me is that the kid may end up as a generic forward rather than the out-andout goal machine he is threatening to be for club and country.
He needs to play through the middle, whether it’s starting or off the bench, to keep the sharp focus of a goalscorer.
And the last thing he needs, whether with club or country, is to have have his head filled with the idea of drifting left, drifting right or finding the pocket behind a central striker.
His chances of playing through the middle are going to be limited with England because of Harry Kane.
Prospects
And we all know Jose Mourinho is bringing in at least one established centre-forward this summer.
My concern is that the Portuguese might have watched this game and it reinforced in him the idea that it’s what he will do with Rashford next season.
What we got here was one of our brightest striking prospects taking corners and that reminds me of when Sir Alex Ferguson first asked Wayne Rooney to operate out of his best position at Old Trafford.
He started spraying the 30, 40-yard passes rather than focusing on what he was best at. In a World Cup year, the last thing we need is for Rashford to play everywhere but through the middle and then something to happen to Kane.
It isn’t ideal preparation for a back-up striker to have played only three or four cup games through the middle and then be asked to step up and lead the line at a tournament.
Too many youngsters say they are just happy to be playing in the first team, that it doesn’t matter what position.
But I like to see players go beyond that. Rashford has to tell Mourinho he wants to score goals, he wants to play the role he was born to play.
If United bring in Alvaro Morata and/ or another big- name hitman for £70million-odd then I’d love to hear of Rashford going to his boss and demanding to go on loan to another Premier League club. Should he do that and score goals, then he’d go to Russia full of confidence and so would we as fans.
Scandal
He and Kane wouldn’t half complement each other, not just as lone strikers but as a two if Gareth Southgate ever fancied a change of formation.
The other thing I’m not happy about is Kane being handed the armband.
I can see the logic behind it — the last thing Southgate and the FA want is a scandal involving their skipper on the front pages in the build-up to a major tournament and Kane is a safe pair of hands.
But Gary Cahill and Eric Dier are good, safe leaders as well.
I know it’s a big deal being England captain, a massive honour, but there’s a lot of secondary stuff that goes with it and takes the mind away from the primary focus.
The worry is both Rashford and Kane will end up confused when they don’t need to be.
What are they both good at? Sticking ball in net.
And if both are used right for club and country then they will get the goals both club and country need.